Listening to the radio in your kitchen soon to be like a concert hall experience, claims researcher

Notably higher quality surround sound digital radio is now possible via a new data processing and compressing technique, developed in Germany.

DAB experts at the Fraunhofer Institute in Erlangen claim DAB Surround will sound "like you're sitting in a concert hall and not at your own breakfast table," according to Fraunhofer researcher Matthias Rose.

Additionally, DAB Surround does not require a higher data rate than bog-standard stereo DAB, with the new MPEG Surround standard working by compressing the six channels of a surround sound music track.

Internet radio quality boost

"Our mp3 Surround format also enables surround sound to be heard over the Internet – a chance for thousands of mp3 Web radio broadcasters to offer their listeners an extra bonus," adds Rose.

Hi-Fi Choice magazine editor, Dan George, commenting on the news, added: "Anything that improves the quality of DAB broadcasts would be welcome, however, history has taught us that surround sound effects rarely increase the listener's enjoyment of music."